Rumor
Rumor is the protagonist of Shadows of the Knight. He was brought to Equestria by Selûne (se-loo-nay), the moon goddess of the Forgotten Realms/D&D. Rumor (alias) was turned into a shade, upon request, coming into Equestria, and is currently the only one of his kind in Equus. Theme: The Lights Are Down When The Lights Are Down by Kamelot Appearance As a human Rumor stands at 6'4" at around 190 lbs. He has dark brown hair, of about two and one half inches, which he prefers to keep combed back and as close to his skull as possible. His body is a bit gangly, and has more of a string bean build. He also wears a wispy brown beard that holds sway under his lower lip and is about three inches in length. As a shade Rumor hold the same basic shape, but has much greater muscle mass. His skin holds a mottled grey color and his face is more gaunt. His hair becomes indistinguishable black color from the natural darkness that he exudes from his pores. His eyes are a bright yellow with no visible pupils. His attire consists of a black battle robe with hood, sturdy traveling boots (black). He used to carry a large grey shield and gloves, but the shield was tossed over a ravine in a fit of emotion and the gloves were burnt in a blast from a flamethrower. Personality Rumor is what one would call an introvert and a nice guy. And while this may seem quite a generic title, he really does enjoy helping others where he can, as well as comforting those who appear to be in pain or hurt, and despite all he tries he cannot help but see the silver lining in everything. These feelings are a strong compulsion for him, but they can be ignored. None of this however can be swayed by his feelings for justice. He takes great pleasure in hearing or seeing those who commit crimes or do evil to others get their just desserts. He is more than willing to make sure this happens, and will go to great lengths to see it does. However this can occasionally lead him to problems as he tends to fall into tunnel vision, which, while it gives him great focus, can lead to him not noticing dangers around him. All of that aggression comes from somewhere. Rumor has the strong tendency to literally be his worst enemy, and struggles with his own feelings, nearly convinced that they are entirely selfish especially when others around him have worse problems. His solution is thus to bury these feelings in what he calls "the well". While it normally functions quite well, due to constant use over the years back on Earth he no longer has the instant processing speed he once had and may now be put into an emotionally high state that blinds him, almost completely, to any standard of right and wrong and becomes focused on what may relieve the emotional pressure or ending the person who caused it. History There really isn't much that can be said of Rumor's history. His life was filled with caring parents, who did their best to raise him. And while his family began to fall apart slowly, and not even always with his notice, the greatest tribulation was the divorce of his parents. He did well in school, and ignored the bullies and jerks through life, mostly finding comfort in reading fantasy books. He was introduced into MLPFIM in college and became hooked after Return to Harmony Part I and II. Months went by as he continued to go through life in a bubble so as not to be hurt or in turn hurt others a mysterious woman came to him and offered to see how he might like Equestria. His life has led him to now be possessed of a sentient white mask which claims him to be the new dark sovereign as well as a fragment of the spirit of the once Nightmare Moon who is a much kinder and seemingly more childlike in nature. Powers and Abilities Unlike many other pieces, Rumor's powers and abilities stem nearly all from his innate shade ability. Of which are derived from having pure elemental darkness fused to his soul. Shadow Stride - a singular mode of transport, Rumor may step in a shadow or darkened place and appear from there in another dark place or shadow with a radius of roughly 20 to 25 feet Shadow Portal - much like the shadow stride, but may be used for not only greater distances but also multiple targets. The downside to this is that it is no longer instantaneous as the darkness must coalesced around him first, and while this only take a few seconds depending on how far away and how deep the darknes sis, this makes it much more impractical in a combat situation if the enemy is currently attacking. Further, Rumor must have a clear and vivid picture of where he wants to go so if he has not been there before or has only been somewhere in passing he cannot do so. As for multiple targets he may spread the darkness around him to engulf others before they coalesce, but the heavier as well as bigger an object is the more power it takes. To top it off though, the more light there is the greater the task also becomes, and should an area not be dark enough, the portal will simply function for the targets it is able to carry rather than every one. Darkness Manipulation - may call upon darkness around him into any shape Rumor imagines and while constructs may be quite large, they are ultimately insubstantial and are only good for obscuring vision or as a distraction, and has a quite a large radius of effect, though larger or more detailed items become much harder with distance. Rumor no longer holds the ability to harden darkness now that he no longe rhas the Umbral Cloak to boost his darkness magic. Hardened Darkness '''- may concentrate to turn darkness into a solid state and may be manipulated from there, this is by far one of the most costly abilities to maintain, and may not function at all beyond the distance of twenty feet, but even so it requires vast stores of energy which must be facilitated from another source but for the most highly trained darkness wizards (something Rumor was only able to do with the aid of the Umbra Cloak) '''Benighted Presence - may exude darkness in confined spaces to make a room darker, but must do so constantly in order for darkness to stay Dark Vision - sight is no longer obscured by darkness and may see through it whether it is magical or mundane Shadow Sense - can feel darkness and shadows around him, much like radar (this also works as a passive means of defense which allows him to feel moves coming and give him an easier sense of how to avoid an oncoming strike) Regeneration - has an incredible regenerative ability can come back from nearly any wound, and may even reattach severed limbs Trance - while Rumor no longer requires sleep, he may still feel exhaustion, during which he goes into a meditative state which gives him all the benefits of deep sleep, but he remains aware of his surrounding for a twenty foot radius Ageless - as a part of darkness Rumor no longer truly ages, but as the years beging to progress he will become more lithe and his theeth will eventually come to points Limb Replacement - should a limb be entirely lost, a shade may instinctively have the darkness act as a proxy of the departed flesh and blood limb with feeling and all, of course it disappears in bright light or sunlight and Rumor must then experience the pain of the severing of those nerves Scentless - Rumor no longer has a scent, but for those who have a particularly astute sense of the environment around them may take notice of his general presence depending on the location (Ex: smell of dead leaves in rot if in a forest or rusted metal and decay if in a city) they will also notice a general sense of wrongness should Rumor be in a negative state of emotion particularly when angery Noncombatative Bonuses - no requirement for food upon a regular basis outside of strenuous activity(though this is ignored mostly from habit anyway). Immunity to poison. Immunity to disease. Immunity to viruses. WEAKNESS: While all this power is quite beneficial, all of his power only functions in areas of low light or total darkness, increasing levels of light eat away at his ability to use his power. True, he may attempt to try and overcome a light source, but should it not be taken away he will only end up wearing himself out. However, direct sunlight may not be combated in any way, shape, or form, and completely blasts all of his powers save for his agelessness. Afterwards he may be poisoned, injected with bacteria or viruses have chunks of meat ripped out of him and he will have no way to deal with it. Ultimately, without being in a dark area Rumor is no better than any other human. He relies heavily on his connection to the dark to maintain an upper hand. Equestrian Magic: When it comes to mana stores, Rumor's is quite low as he is meant to draw upon the darkness for power rather than from himself. Also, he currently is unaware of Latin Magics. Equipment Umbra Cloak - '''a black hooded cloak that was gifted to Rumor from the goddess who sent him to Equestria, it boosted his powers to that of a master shadowmancer (it now currently rests as a pile of ash having faced the business end of a flame thrower) Rumor tends to wear a great black traveling boots and hooded cloak whenever he can, while it does not give him the benefits of his once Umbral Cloak, it brings him comfort to be as close to darkness as he can be. '''Mask (Caligo) - a sentient artifact which claims Rumor to be the new sovereign of darkness, it does little for him save for advice, claims he would have given Rumor all the powers he already had, as well as taking credit for powers it stole from Rumor's memory. As it currently is, the mask clearly holds the ability to affect Rumor's mind, most noticeably with the ability to deadening physical sensation but can also give advice as well as shield his mind from those who try to access it. It may also stay stored away inside Rumor unless he is given control to use the body and then pours out of Rumor's face to reveal himself. The product of the briliant crafting skill of Princess Luna and the twisted imaginings of Knightmare Moon, it is a force to be reckoned with. The insideousness of it's machinations upon taking over Rumor's body are evidence of this, as well as the admittance of such lies that, for example, Rumor was the Soverign of the Dark, and was merely a ploy to allow for the sublte infiltration of his mind as well as allow it to fill in corroded parts of it's memory with knowledged copied from Rumor. Somnium - the second voice in Rumor's head was once a part of Nightmare Moon but was shattered upon a great fight during one of the Grand Galloping Galas. Upon fully healing she has the power to feed off of her host's emotions. In turn she gives her host increased strength, bot mystical and physcial. This then leads to greater heights of emotion, and the center continues to spin out of control until things fall apart. Relationships Rumor holds tentative friendship, by his own account, with Sprocket, and is unsure how his departure from Canterlot Castle left him with the colleagues there. Category:Pieces Category:All Category:Canon Category:Protagonist Category:Alive Category:OC Category:Characters